Comments on Fluffytek Art Blog: The Harshest Critic

It would be wrong to say that we haven't argued co...

2008-08-14T18:30:00.000+01:00

It would be wrong to say that we haven't argued copiously about the significance of my photographing naked young women in the studio in our house. I feel I have been engaged in a long war of attrition where I have come out on top. What makes it doubly difficult is that my wife understands that photography is now more or less my full-time occupation and actively supports my work. She is also a damn good critic - no kissbottom partner, she. I have looked for a studio away from home, but they are either slums or far too expensive. So we muddle on ...

Eric

Thanks for the comments Dave and BT. Both made me ...

2008-08-11T17:04:00.000+01:00

Thanks for the comments Dave and BT. Both made me smile knowingly, as do your daily stories on your own blogs about your (long-suffering and devoted) wives :-)

Great post..I’ve made a living (photographically) ...

2008-08-11T14:31:00.000+01:00

Great post..

I’ve made a living (photographically) shooting mainly the same model (Mrs. BT)l in like 95% of my photographs. So I feel qualified (overly) to comment. Recognized in print as such in the New Erotic Photography book..where I believe I am the only photographer that uses the same model in each and every photograph published in said book (and Eric’s comment that I have photographed the same model for over 25 years should be testimonial evidence to my preferred redundancy and the ability to keep photographs fresh and new). Making each photograph of the same model fresh and new…that’s my responsibility…fortunately I have a very fucked up mind. That magnified by diversity, absurdity, whimsy and my basic all around personal fetishes create the catalyst for my variety of photographic art.

I prefer to photograph Mrs. BT over any other model in the world. Simply, she is perfect for what I do. Also, She understands me…and is a harsh critic (just about the only critic that I listen too)…as I expect her to be..AND she has a great eye to add ideas to any photograph that I create . However, the vast majority of the time she looks at me like I am from another planet when I suggest a photographic idea..she says …”I don’t see what you see”..to which I reply…”you don’t have to…as I see it”.

She supports me 100% with my photography. …..but she also will tell me when she thinks I am out of my mind with an image , or if she hates it. I have given her veto power over EVERYTHING that I photograph of her..if she hates a photograph that much..no one will see it. But over the last few years or so..she has gained great trust and confidence in what I photograph of her. Unless she absolutely hates a photograph…she trusts my judgment completely when exhibiting or publishing said photograph.

Respect goes both ways…trust abounds…and integrity leads the way.

Good thing I have thick skin, and a wife/model that has confidence (sometimes blind) in my photographic vision, and the courage to tell me when I suck!!

bt

"I visited the nether regions of hell before this ...

2008-08-11T00:49:00.000+01:00

"I visited the nether regions of hell before this post met his exacting standards. Criticism is a double-edged sword. Dammit."

The man must have big brass ones. I certainly would hesitate to critique my wife's treatise on critiques.

Critics in cheerleader outfits might be the best s...

2008-08-10T22:41:00.000+01:00

Critics in cheerleader outfits might be the best sort of partners.

The top image here is a dandy by the way.

2008-08-10T21:05:00.000+01:00

The top image here is a dandy by the way.

Got to agree and also argue with you on this one."...

2008-08-10T21:04:00.000+01:00

Got to agree and also argue with you on this one.
"Get off your cute, cellulite-ridden ass (which he loves and respects more than any other, otherwise he’d never have agreed to spend his life with you)."
Maybe, maybe not. My wife's cellulite-ridden ass is not a high point. I don't love it. I'm not actually fond of it. There are many out there I like much better.
I do love her however, and always ask for her input.
Sometime she gives it when I don't want it and I get irritated at her. But in the long run she is usually right.
She is an art teacher, and I don't often agree with her on her first assessment, but later will find myself working my way toward what she had said. I hate that.
What I find interesting is that she will often look at someone else work and say, "He/she is coping your work." TO which I point out that everything has been done before. Every pose I have put a model in and been done thousands of time before.
I'm sure there is a wife out there looking at my work and saying to her husband, "He is coping your work." I know it has happened because I have gotten a phone call from Australia from a wife who was bitching at me that I was plagiarizing her husbands work. Bitch!
So I calmly try and settle the wife down and tell her it has all been done before, and all will be done again.
A problem I have noticed with friends of mine that use the same models I use, is that we end up with the same poses.
This is where wives go off the handle without taking into account that "Duh", same model. Who do you think is to blame?
Not knocking wives of photographers here. Just pointing out the perspective of the photographer and input of wives.
I want Roberta to critique my work, but I want her to critique my work when I want her to, not when I open a RAW image from a shoot I just finished ten minutes ago. I don't want her to look at other peoples work and tell me they are coping my work. They may or may not be, but it doesn't matter. If they copied my work and did it better than I did, great! If they did it worse than I did, great!
I agree that a wife/husband should be involved with helping. I just don't like it when it is done. I like it a few hours later.